The Reality of Grace is ....ACCEPTANCE...."warts and all"
Describing the reality of Grace can be difficult ....but this morning I am struck by the reality that Grace has ACCEPTED us WHOLESALE !! Being accepted is the single most compelling need of our lives...His Grace accepts us at the depth of our being....warts and all !!
Eph. 2:8 ; II Cor. 12 ; James 4:8
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
The Lord is my light and my salvation....
"The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear ?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple. For in the time
of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be
Lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His
Tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing
praises to the Lord..."
Psalm 27: 1- 6
Whom shall I fear ?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple. For in the time
of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be
Lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His
Tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing
praises to the Lord..."
Psalm 27: 1- 6
Sunday, October 30, 2011
God The Breaker
" The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it, their king will pass before them, with the LORD at their head." ~ Micah 2:13
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Gospel: Food or Medicine
The current stress and strain of making a living has given rise to new levels of nervous, fussy, neurotic temperaments in our society. We are showing signs of increasing instability in our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual equilibrium. We are played out with business, pleasure and fatigued with formality & fashion.
In order to cope & combat we seem to be reaching out for some five hour like stimulant to spice us up and whip our jaded nerves into line just to make it through the day or week. I am concerned that we are not turning to Christ and the Gospel as our source of wholesome thinking & living but instead we are looking for the new religious "pick-me-up" get us by.
Recently I taught a series on The Lords Prayer. During this time I was deeply moved & convicted that this was far more than a prayer teaching but an actual model of the way Christ lived out His life. He said that we are to pray to the Father, "give us this day our daily bread". There is something very powerful about the daily bread... Jesus said that He was the "bread of life" in John 6:48 and He went on to say "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of he world".
And on the night He was betrayed, "...when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me". In remembrance involves more than just memory; the word suggests an "active calling to mind".
As we "actively call to mind" Christ death, burial & resurrection we are living by the Gospel.
The Gospel to the hungry becomes food, daily bread and a way of life rather than a medicine for temporary pain and pick-me-up.
"...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel"
~ Mark 1: 15
In order to cope & combat we seem to be reaching out for some five hour like stimulant to spice us up and whip our jaded nerves into line just to make it through the day or week. I am concerned that we are not turning to Christ and the Gospel as our source of wholesome thinking & living but instead we are looking for the new religious "pick-me-up" get us by.
Recently I taught a series on The Lords Prayer. During this time I was deeply moved & convicted that this was far more than a prayer teaching but an actual model of the way Christ lived out His life. He said that we are to pray to the Father, "give us this day our daily bread". There is something very powerful about the daily bread... Jesus said that He was the "bread of life" in John 6:48 and He went on to say "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of he world".
And on the night He was betrayed, "...when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me". In remembrance involves more than just memory; the word suggests an "active calling to mind".
As we "actively call to mind" Christ death, burial & resurrection we are living by the Gospel.
The Gospel to the hungry becomes food, daily bread and a way of life rather than a medicine for temporary pain and pick-me-up.
"...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel"
~ Mark 1: 15
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Lord Willing
Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power. ~ Psalms 110:3
By nature, God's people have wills as stubborn as have the rest of the sons of Adam. But when God's grace reaches us, the will surrenders and yields the sweet fruit of the spirit. The formerly self- willed rebel soon begins to cry, "What will You have me do, Lord? May Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
By nature, God's people have wills as stubborn as have the rest of the sons of Adam. But when God's grace reaches us, the will surrenders and yields the sweet fruit of the spirit. The formerly self- willed rebel soon begins to cry, "What will You have me do, Lord? May Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Authentic Christian Peacemaking
"The incentive to peacemaking is love, but it degenerates into appeasement whenever justice is ignored. To forgive and to ask for forgiveness are both costly exercises. All authentic Christian peacemaking exhibits the love and the justice--and so the pain of the cross" -- John R.W. Stott
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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